Monterey Peninsula cities to decide on forming joint water authority

A regional water authority aimed at salvaging the foundering Regional Desalination Project or finding another water source for the Peninsula is being reviewed by six Peninsula cities this week and next.

Tuesday, the Carmel City Council unanimously passed a resolution to join the Monterey Regional Water Management Authority, which would include Pacific Grove, Monterey, Sand City, Seaside and Del Rey Oaks.

The Pacific Grove City Council has scheduled a hearing at 6 p.m. Thursday on a similar resolution.

Sand City and Monterey city councils will take up the issue Tuesday. Seaside has scheduled its hearing on Jan. 19. Del Rey Oaks will consider it Jan. 24.

The proposal is supported by the cities' mayors, who say it would be in cities' best interest to form a joint powers agency that would advance the regional project or an alternative water supply and provide a forum for deliberation and public participation.

California American Water, the main provider of water on the Peninsula, was given the OK from the state Public Utilities Commission in December 2010 to participate in a public-private water project — the Regional Desalination Project. But since then, the mayors say in a report released Friday, "multiple impediments have arisen that have delayed and threatened the viability of the regional project."

The project has drawn criticism over its governance and the cost of the water it would supply, as well as how it would provide representation for Cal Am customers.

The mayors recommended entering into an agreement with the San Diego office of the Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck law firm for legal services for the water authority and related water issues. That firm represented developers of a San Diego regional water desalination project.

The region already has a public agency responsible for water management — the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District — but critics have repeatedly said it has yet to develop an additional major regional water source.

David Stoldt, Water Management District general manager, said the mayors have not responded to district requests to be involved in any discussions related to forming a joint powers agency.

"They've kept it close to the vest," he said. "We were not included. We're the ones with the statutory authority to do all this work."

The district has a policy advisory committee made up of elected officials from the cities and county, he said, and a technical advisory committee made up of staff from those agencies.

"We are supportive of regional water supply planning," Stoldt said, "especially if alternatives need to be brought forward if the regional project doesn't move forward."

There are several weaknesses in the mayors' proposal, Stoldt said, including:

· It creates confusion. "Who does what? It undermines the district's statutory authority."

· There is no revenue source to cover costs, including potential legal fees of $500,000 or more for developing the environmental impact reports and other documents that would be associated with an alternative water project if one becomes necessary.

· Except for Seaside's own water department, the cities lack the necessary engineering and water planning expertise.

Cal Am spokeswoman Catherine Bowie said the company welcomes the mayors' input and support, which "has been invaluable throughout the development and permitting process for the Regional Desalination Project." She said she could not comment on the merits of the proposed agency because she had not seen specifics.

Cal Am, which supplies customers on the Peninsula, draws its water from the Carmel River and Seaside Groundwater Basin aquifers.

Both are subject to restrictions under a cease-and-desist order issued by the state Water Resources Control Board limiting water withdrawals from the Carmel River to all but 3,376 acre-feet per year by 2016, and a judicial order limiting withdrawals from the Seaside basin.

Cal Am gets about 75 percent of the water for its Peninsula customers from 18 wells along the lower Carmel River. The 1995 state order said Cal Am has the legal right to only 3,376 acre-feet of river water a year.

But Cal Am's annual diversion of river water has ranged from 9,538 to 11,178 acre-feet, exceeding the company's legal limit by an average of 7,150 acre-feet annually, state officials say.

When the state first cracked down on Cal Am's use of Carmel River water in 1995, the utility was using about 14,100 acre-feet of river water a year.